The Seven Frog Brothers, a story in 9 parts, Merrik, the Silent One

More about The Seven Frog Brothers, a story in 9 parts, Merrik, the Silent One

The forest breathed to the rhythm of the stars. Far above, the Milky Way stretched, and the moon lay like a bright coin above the treetops. Merrik sat silently on the back of Ornalis, the Time Snail, gazing over the glowing paths that crisscrossed the undergrowth like golden veins. Ornalis moved barely faster than a heartbeat, yet each step seemed to reach deeper than a thousand hasty leaps. On her shell, wheels ticked, valves wheezed, and lanterns glowed. But all of this made barely a sound—it was as if the snail could stretch time itself until every sound from outside died away. Merrik rarely spoke. His brothers had often teased him: "The Silent One with the deep eyes." But in his silence, he gathered what the others missed. The fleeting glimmer of a butterfly's wing, the first crack of ice in dew, the trembling of the earth as the rain approached. All of this lived within him, and now, as the call of the pond sounded, he felt more than just memory—he felt the melody. "Homecoming," he thought. But he didn't say it aloud. Words would have been like pebbles in a clear stream: an unnecessary disturbance. Ornalis understood him that way, too. The time snail crawled leisurely through the forest. Its antennae carried lanterns that shone like little moons. They illuminated plants whose leaves twisted like gears, blossoms that opened only in the glow of clocklight. Merrik tilted his head as if he heard the ticking of the stars themselves. At the side of the path rose an ancient sundial, overgrown with moss, its hands long since broken. Merrik dismounted, placed his hand on the stone, and felt the flow of the hours that had drifted away here. A whisper pierced him: "Time is not a stream, but a mirror. He who stands still sees his face." He smiled gently, without a word. Then he returned to Ornalis, and the snail continued on its way, deeper into the night.Soon the forest opened into a clearing where dozens of small snails with metal shells were gathered. They formed a circle, as if waiting for something.